The present invention relates to a moulded electrical connector provided with a retainer, and a mould for manufacture of the connector.
A connector is provided with a side retainer for retaining terminal fittings, whereby the terminal fittings are inserted into a housing and the retainer is pushed in to intersect with these terminal fittings.
This type of connector is described in JP 62-136781 and JP 1-197979.
In this connector, if an attachment hole for the retainer is long and narrow or plate-shaped, a mould for forming this retainer attachment hole is also long and narrow or plate-shaped and may be relatively weak. Consequently, measures to strengthen it are required.
One means of strengthening is to provide two moulds which have protruding moulding members whose protruding length is less than the depth of the retainer attachment hole. These protruding moulding members make mutual contact and thereby form one retainer attachment hole. In this case, the two moulds are removed in mutually opposing directions. Consequently, both ends of the retainer attachment hole are open and pass through to outer faces of the housing. Of these two end openings, the opening at the side from which the retainer is pushed in is then covered by the retainer itself The other opening is not covered, and the terminal fittings which are within the housing are exposed therefrom. Exposing the terminal fittings from the opening in this manner is unsightly and foreign objects can also easily penetrate therein from the exterior.
The present invention has taken the above problem into consideration, and aims to present a connector in which the mould is not weakened, and in which the terminal fittings are not exposed.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a mould for moulding a body of an electrical connector, said body having a plurality of parallel terminal insertion cavities, and a retainer insertion cavity intersecting said terminal insertion cavities, said retainer insertion cavity being defined by first and second mould parts extendable towards each other from opposite directions from a disengaged to an engaged condition, the first mould part defining a retainer insertion aperture, a portion of the inner face of the retainer insertion cavity and an inner end wall thereof, and the second mould part defining the remaining portion of the inner face of the retainer insertion cavity and the outer end wall thereof, the first and second mould parts overlapping in the engaged condition.
Such a mould permits shorter and thus stiffer mould parts which can furthermore support each other due to the overlap. The overlap is preferably in the form of an interlock in the direction of the terminal insertion apertures.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a moulded connector body of an electrical connector, said body having a plurality of parallel terminal insertion cavities, and a retainer insertion cavity intersecting said terminal insertion cavities, wherein one end of said retainer insertion cavity is fully open, the other end being partly open, and closed between planes defined by upper and lower edges of said terminal insertion cavities.
Insertion of a retainer in such a connector body can substantially close the necessary moulding apertures at both ends. The retainer is preferably engageable by the body in both temporary and final conditions to permit transport thereof in a partially finished state.